


At the President's Pleasure

by emf911



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Daredevil (TV), Designated Survivor (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, F/F, F/M, Genocide, Government Conspiracy, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Terrorism, Kidnapping, M/M, Not Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Phil Coulson is alive, Political Intrigue, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Wakandan Technology, racial profiling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-02 06:38:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19435969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emf911/pseuds/emf911
Summary: The administration of Pres. Richmond, the successor of Matthew Ellis has gathered to address the two houses of Congress in the first State of the Union of his second term. Despite losing the President's favor, HUD Sec. Tom Kirkman is chosen as the 'Designated Survivor', little knowing that a long gestating conspiracy to wipe out the government will catapult him and his family to the head of a rapidly fracturing country and imploding global community.His struggle to adjust to wielding power, unite the troubled nation, discover the reasons for the devastating destruction of the Capitol, and decide the fate of the Avengers whose recent actions in Sokovia have led some to charge them with drawing a target upon Earth itself sets up a period of crisis as enemies foreign, domestic and intergalactic all begin to advance their plans to ravage the planet and its resources and seize power by any means necessary.The Avengers—and Kirkman survive...but for how long?





	At the President's Pleasure

_It is a time of international unrest and domestic turmoil. The controversial administration of first term President Robert Richmond has come to an end and he focuses now on drastic changes to his domestic agenda now that he has won re-election and been able to move on from the many controversial elements and legacies left behind by his predecessor, Matthew Ellis._

_Credited with leading the recovery period of the U.S., subjected to two devastating attacks during the Ellis administration: the first confirmed interstellar invasion of Earth which took place in N.Y. in the summer of '12 and the alleged attacks of the terrorist organization known as the Ten Rings which turned out to be a domestic terror plot sponsored in part by none other than the Vice-President of the United States; Richmond has worked and achieved a good measure of success of weakening the hold of companies such as Roxxon Corporation and striking back at the Ten Rings and similar groups to cripple their ability to stage any potential assaults on America's sovereignty. Largely perceived to have avoided scandal, his administration nevertheless faced it's greatest challenge domestically in the revelation that the U.S. sanctioned black ops organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised by an older militant offshoot to the Nazi scientific agencies, HYDRA with plans to hold a proverbial gun to America and the world's head, though their plot was foiled by the actions of the legendary Cpt. Steve Rogers and associates who dismantled S.H.I.E.L.D. and led out in efforts to wipe HYDRA from the face of the Earth. Thanks in large part to newly organized Department of Damage Control and HUD, the damage inflicted upon Washington D.C. has been rapidly contained and repaired._

_His foreign agenda however has fared more poorly, the result of circumstances shrouded in mystery and intrigue and involving the international reaching arm of the unsanctioned defense organization known to the public as the Avengers in their efforts to cripple HYDRA, culminating in devastating international incident in the devastation rained upon the Eastern European country known as Sokovia, resulting in the deaths of thousands of civilians despite the best efforts of the Avengers to mitigate the disaster. As a result, the U.S. has been facing increasing scrutiny about its ability to police groups such as the Avengers, who freely operate across national borders with no oversight to the U.S. or the international community._

_Additionally, a large matter of consequence to his domestic and foreign agenda is the status of enhanced individuals, often termed 'Inhumans' who have rapidly multiplied in the aftermath of the greatest domestic terror attack to strike the U.S. in its long and voluminous history, the infamous Battle of NY, known nationally as 'The Incident'._

_Under the influence of Ret. General Thaddeus Ross, recently appointed and confirmed as his new Sec. of State, Richmond and his backers have employed more hostile and charged language towards such individuals. Rumors have been to spread of a tough series of measures being formulated to stamp down on what some in his administration increasingly believe to be a potent threat._

_Towards that end, he has been pushing for a crackdown on the Enhanced in very area of his bureaucracy. Most have begun to capitulate- save for the Office of the Sec. of HUD. The backbone of recovery efforts to house the displaced victims of the devastating attacks as well as those irrevocably changed from the interstellar encounter, the Sec.'s largely apolitical nature and status, coupled with his inherent sense of fair dealing and unwillingness to entrench himself in partisan politics has led to his influence with the POTUS dwindling until preparations have begun to be put in place to have the Secretary resign and take up a safe Ambassadorship with an organization headquartered in Canada._

_With significant and far-reaching changes on the horizon for the US in both domestic and foreign matters, the POTUS prepares to address the nation as well as the bicameral Houses of Congress in the traditional joint session gathering known as the State of the Union._

_Curiously, despite falling from the President's good graces, Sec. Kirkman has been selected by the administration to serve as the member of Cabinet who would be the_ Designated Survivor _, a member of the Cabinet chosen by the President to be hidden in an undisclosed location for the duration of any official gathering of the President, Vice-President, his Cabinet and the representatives of Congress in joint session._

_Little does the POTUS, Congress, America, the world and Sec. Kirkman himself realize how momentous the decision to choose him as the Designated Survivor will be..._


End file.
